I understand that this is an old post but would be grateful for the advice, I was advised by a garage to leave a holding deposit of £500 for a car that I had seen. Due to the easter bank holidays i was unable to get a confirmed answer from a loan company and would be told after the easter break, i explained this to the garage at the time and said that because I had recently moved house and had only just registered on an electral roll my loan maybe declined. The garage understood my situation and said should the loan get refused they would refund my deposit if i gave them a decision on the tuesday after the bank holiday. The loan company declined my loan and i informed the garage, because i liked the car that much i asked what finance deals were avaliable only to be given a quote which meant paying back more than £4000 extra on the car. I told the garage this was out of my price range and would like my deposit back. The garage have declined to give me my £500 back and said I was signed into a contract, It is partly my own fault because i did sign a paper and did not read it and just went on the advice of the sales man in garage. What do i do, I feel that im now been forced to go into a finance deal which i cant afford and losing £500

oops i didnt notice the date..........sorry phil, bit late with the advice, but now you know you were entitled to the deposit back 2 years ago.

Where did you dig up this old post from, it's origination is over Two years old.?

The OP could well have ceased driving by now, on the grounds of old age. !

hi phil

you are entitled to a full refund from the dealer if the monthly amount doesnt meet the agreed budget.

the dealer has agreed a rate and term before taking the deposit making it null and void if he cant come up to the terms agreed

the whole point in leaving a deposit is to stop the dealer selling it to someone else this is called a holding deposit. if a customer has viewed a car on line they can leave a holding deposit on the car even before its been viewed by the customer but it must be as discribed in the advert, if not you are entitled to a full refund.

if a customer needs finance, while waiting for a lenders decision then a holding deposit is requested in order to take the vehicle off sale while the finance is being delt with. if the dealer is unable to provide the customer with a finance package to suit then the customer is entitled to a full refund.

i have worked in the finance industry long enough to recognise a scam when i see one. consider this....... i have a database of around 30% customers being declined for car finance. most of those customers have defaults ccj etc no jobs and no intention paying the loan back even if they were accepted, if i took a £300 deposit from each customer on the pretence they could get finance for £5000 then a couple of days later say sorry mate, you have been refused the finance, but i am keeping the depost anyway. i could retire to the south of france on the deposits alone.

the dealer could come up with mickey mouse rates every time in order to keep the customers deposit, why bother selling the car in the first place? he is making much more money keeping customers deposits. go to the trading standard or office of fair trading. see how long they keep hold of the deposit then.

dont let this dealer get away with it you should make other people aware of who this dealer is and damage his reputation as much as possible, do not let him get away with doing the same to someone else.

When transferring the deposit to another car at the dealers, is there much chance of haggling again?

Cheers

I thought as much, thanks.

No rights, I fear Wilsh. Because the deal was done face to face on trade premises, there's no cooling off period. I reckon your two best bets would be either

- Pull the order form to pieces, see if there are any technicalities it falls down on with the help of you local CAB

or

- Speak nicely to the dealer, find another car on their forecourt with reasonable insurance costs, get them to transfer the deposit to the new deal.

If you go in there on the bounce, the chances are they'll tell you to jog on, saying you should've made sure the insurance was right before makin gyour decision.

Best of luck

JJ

Hello

Can you help?

Put a deposit of £2k down for a car. Very happy with my purchase.

Next day got on the phone to the insurance to be told that it was not in fact £800 per annum (as confused.com stated) but £2500 per annum. This was too much.

Planned collectionwas not for 12 days. Went back to the dealer and stated this. They said deposit would not be returned as I had signed the form, and that it was non refundable.

This was a transaction without finance.

I let the dealer know within 24hrs of paying the deposit so NO works were done to the car!

What are my rights, if any?

Tks

Hi Claire,

The same thing happened to me and they tried all the tricks to make me think I couldn't get the deposit back - I was raging with the whole situation. They were determined that it was transferred to another car. In my case I'd paid £1000 and the car had been taken off the lot, cleaned and sprayed with protective covering etc so they weren't happy when I pulled out and said the £1000 was lost for costs incurred.

The letter of the law is quite clear in that if there is a finance agreement, there are three parties involved, you, the dealer and the finance company. All three can pull out without penalty. Did you sign anything? How long was it between laying down the deposit and realising you didn't want to proceed? The only sticky parts would be if you signed something that referred to the deposit being non-refundable. If you signed something regarding the finance, you would normally have a cooling period where you could terminate anyway.

I called the Citizens Advice Bureau to explain my exact circumstances - you should do this too, it's quite therapeutic - then I phoned the dealer telling them that I knew my consumer rights and wanted my money back immediately. I don't think it matters that they have ordered the car, that's their risk. After CAB have told you the position relative to your exact circumstances, phone the garage and explain that you've looked into your legal position and want your money back (assuming CAB confirms this).

I got my £1000 back, I hope you are successful - don't let them bully you, they will know fine well what your rights are.

Good Luck

 

 

I'm no expert but would think that you should take the route of 'no longer fit for purpose' under the consumer credit act 1974.

Contact your local CAB, they'll tell you the actual law on it......

JJ

they have come back to me and said def not get deposit back. I have explained about the 3 party agreement etc and they have said the car is ordered so i will loose the deposit. what can i do now?! Is there a certain 'law' that i can qoute?

 

Thanks

thanks everyone - ill get on to them today!

jjnaughalty:

The garage probably do know this and are hoping you don't get advice from somewhere.

 

Well Claire, you had the common sense to get advice from somewhere and now you know where you stand.  Go and get your deposit back!

If you haven't executed the finance agreement and taken delivery of the car then the quick answer is that you are legally entitled to your deposit back, Claire. This is because you have entered into a 3 party agreement. If you were paying cash, a two party agreement, then you'd not have a shout on your cash.

The garage probably do know this and are hoping you don't get advice from somewhere.

JJ

Good work on the twins btw

Claire

Congratulations on the news that you're expecting twins. 

There is a forum member who will be able to help you on this one, so hang around and you should get some good advice and guidance here on the Moneysupermarket forum.

Good luck.